[PRP] The Confrontation in the Clearing [ See Inside ]

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

The following is a solo RP. Do not post.

Le Teepee

 

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

It had been calm for a while. The weather had been kind to them in their travels, and the day was warm and balmy. They had split from the group to scout out the surrounding forest, and they had discovered a beautiful clearing that had been lovingly cultivated by a jovial putti usdia and her goat-like imp usdia companion. There were many herbs and plant parts that could be useful for healing here, and the mini, Juniper, was quick to offer them in exchange for conversation and tales of their travels.

Stasya couldn't help but grin as Alucia, absolutely towering over tiny Juniper, dramatically acted out some exciting scenes from their travels. Due to their over-dramatic nature, Stasya couldn't exactly pinpoint what events her apprentice was referring to, but they were entertaining all the same. A giggle beside her brought her attention to Jasmine, who was trying to collect some dandelion greens with Alucia's wolf, Emerald. Every time Jasmine would lean down to collect some, she was playfully headbutted by the little imp, Otis. Emerald was obviously unsure of what she was supposed to do in this situation, while Jasmine just smiled and humored the little goat usdia.

"Having troubles, Jasmine?" Stasya asked, smiling and nodding down towards Otis.  

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

This was the happiest Jasmine had been in quite some time. Being with a group of gentle, like-minded soquili that just wanted to help others was a breath of fresh air. She was no longer depressed and lazing about, waiting for her dead mate to come home. She was invigorated with new purpose, and it felt great. She hummed a tune to herself as Emerald helped her pull the dandelions around her from the ground. Jasmine leaned down to pull a stem up from the dirt, when brown blocked her vision. What in the world...

Jasmine blinked as she was snuffled at. She looked down her snout and her grey eyes met with big orange ones. The small goat-like mini that Juniper had introduced as Otis was staring at her and grunting.

"Yes, can I -" Otis' bray cut her off and he hopped up and down before bouncing from one hoof to the next. His butt shook back and forth and he hopped forward to gently butt her head back from the dandelion. Oh, a game? Jasmine was suddenly reminded of her children. They would do similar things when they were foals. Her heart warmed and she leaned back down, playfully feigning a grab at the dandelion before bopping Otis on the snout with her own. The usdia blinked his big eyes up at her in shock before looking down his snout where she had bopped him. He grinned and hopped about again, before rolling by a startled Emerald. Jasmine giggled and resumed her dandelion picking, occasionally continuing the playful headbutting game. She looked up when Stasya addressed her.

"Oh, no," she laughed. "Reminds me of when my children were young,"

Jasmine sighed wistfully, briefly wondering what her sons were up to. She hoped that they were enjoying life as she was.  

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

Emerald sighed as the usdia rolled around her and hindered their progress. She wanted to finish up so they could go back to their group. She didn't like being in unknown territory with strangers. Her eyes narrowed on Otis. She especially didn't like goats and goat-like strangers. Emerald covered a yawn with her paw and continued to pull up dandelions, avoiding the clumsy movements of the brown usdia as much as she could. She winced and couldn't help the growl that escaped when Otis stomped on her paw. The mini looked surprised at the noise and backed off a bit. Good. Emerald huffed and took a pile of the dandelion stems between her jaws. Spotting Alucia still animatedly telling some random story to Juniper, Emerald started towards her.

"AND THEN the mighty purple serpent horse rose up from the depths with a big SPLASH!" Alucia slammed her hooves down into the dirt. "And he yelled 'give that back, that's mine!' and we were all like 'nooo this is OURS!' and he was sooo angry that the mighty purple serpent GROWLED AND CAME AT US!" Alucia twisted her face into an evil snarl. "'If you don't give it back, I will take your liiiiiiiives buwahahaha!'"

"I'm pretty sure that's not how meeting Ahti happened." Emerald deadpanned, dropping the dandelion stems at Alucia's hooves and interrupting her story."In fact, I'm pretty sure that he casually popped his head out of a river one day and nicely asked us to trade,"

Alucia let out a big sigh. "But Emerald that's not fuuuun," she whined. "And I don't know, he looked pretty fishy to me,"

"...That's because he's a mer, Alucia,"  

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

The unicorn in front of her was the biggest soquili that had ever come to her garden. Juniper had been practically vibrating with excitement when she had spotted the group of strangers coming towards her and Otis. Her friend had been wary of the strangers at first, but June had hopped over without a thought to introduce herself.

Now she was absolutely enamored by Alucia, who was retelling some of her adventures among the traveling healers.

"Oooh wow," she breathed after the unicorn snarled. "How terribly scary!!! Oh wow, oh wow!"

Her excitement was cut off by the green wolf that interrupted Alucia's story. While a part of Juniper was aware of how outlandish the unicorn's tale sounded, she appreciated the lively, creative delivery a bit more than the truth.

"Emerald, Alucia's stories are simply the best - yes they are! She must be your group's best storyteller. Oh! Do you often tell stories - ooh like bedtime stories - oh oh or like - oof!"

Juniper's rambling was cut off when Otis rammed into her side. Her friend looked worried, and more worried than he had when faced with the group of strangers. A rare frown appeared on her face.

"Are you okay, Otis? What's wrong?"  

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

Otis was not a talkative soquili. In fact, when he did talk, it was usually in guttural gibberish and grunts and miscellaneous noises. Like his looks and behaviors would suggest, Otis was raised by goats. The goats that raised him were not blessed by the spirits, and because of this, they could not speak in common tongue. The mini stallion had not truly met another soquili until early adulthood, and that soquili had been Juniper. Juniper talked so much that Otis frequently worried she would run out of breath. Because of her, he was learning to connect things around him with these 'words' she would keep spilling out. But just because he was trying to learn new things, didn't mean he could so easily fall away from his goat habits.

He had been playing the game he used to play with his mother and siblings when they would graze in the fields. The mare, Juniper said her name was Jasmine, was playing along much to Otis' delight. However, the green wolf, who was almost as big as he was, did not appreciate his game. When Emerald sent him a warning growl, he backed off to the edge of the clearing and silently observed everything. That was when he heard the noise and felt the feeling of something awful on the air. He ran to Juniper, who had become a part of his family, and headbutted her side in warning. She turned to him with a confused look and Otis struggled to grasp the meaning behind her words and find his own answering ones.

".......Baaaaaaad!" he finally got out. That was one of the words he had first learned, and, though simple and singular, he hoped it would get the message across to June. "Baaaad" he repeated.

The noises got louder and the others in the clearing finally took notice. Everyone turned to look at the treeline. The sounds of branches breaking and heavy breathing and... was that laughter? It sent a chill down all of their spines. Finally, a large stallion, who was almost as big as Alucia, stumbled into the clearing, gasping for air. He was obviously wounded and being pursued by someone - or something. Otis started backing up, pushing Juniper back with his body so that they were behind Alucia. He kicked at the dirt with his hooves. This was not good.

"Baaad,"  

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

Ridley's chest felt like it was on fire. His legs ached from running, and a particularly deep gash on his side had stained most of his body red. His hair, dampened by sweat, kept obscuring his vision, causing him to crash through more tree branches and stumble over obstacles. He was a mess, and it was all thanks to the awful Ulun'suti mare and her lackeys, who were currently chasing after him.

Lux Flamma was what she was called. She had been making quite a name for herself as someone to avoid contact with at all costs - someone very dangerous. It was said that she would never forget the faces of those that crossed her path, and that was something Ridley could now confirm as true. This was not the first time that he had encountered Lux Flamma. A few years ago, on his first flight away from his home, he had been a witness to her and her dastardly ways. She had pulled him right out of the air by her tail and slammed him into the ground. She had used him as leverage. It was the weakest he had ever felt in his life. He had been able to escape whatever fate she had in mind for him with the help of two warriors that were also there. His back leg still burned at the memory of being cracked by that fall to the ground. He had never thought that he would see her again, and he had definitely never thought that she'd be so quick to remember him and charge for his throat. The worst part was that she had others with her this time, and while they were just a small mare and an usdia, Ridley didn't want to push his luck. So he ran. And he was still running.

Lux's hellish laughter echoed around the forest. He wasn't sure if she was near or far, but he knew she was there. Somewhere. His hoof suddenly caught on an upturned root, and Ridley tumbled into a beautiful clearing full of flowers. He took deep breaths, quickly looking behind him before pulling himself up to his hooves with a groan and stumbling forward, towards the unicorns. Unicorns were healers, they could help him! But... He looked back at the forest behind him. Lux would be here soon. She was on his trail. He turned back to the unicorn mares and minis.

"You-You've got to run!" he yelled. His legs wobbled. He wouldn't be able to run for much longer, but they could save themselves.  

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

Stasya could barely keep herself from rushing forward to the wounded stallion's aid. She gnawed on her bottom lip with worry, trying to assess his wounds from a distance and failing. None of the group's protectors were with them. Sure, Alucia had her size as an advantage, but they were a group of peaceful healers. They did not fight. She finally let out a breath and just went with her gut, rushing past Alucia and to the stallion's side.

"What happened to you? Where do you hurt most?" she asked, scanning his injuries with a critical eye.  

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

Jasmine stepped forward so that she offered further protection to the small usdias. She sent a worried glance to Alucia. Would they stand a chance against something that took a big stallion like him down?

"Alucia..."  

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

Alucia's happy and exuberant demeanor switched off the moment the stallion had crashed through the trees. She held back her protest when Stasya rushed by her to aid the fallen stallion. She met Jasmine's gaze.

"I know...'"

Emerald had followed Stasya and was now pacing the length of the tree line, a constant growl reverberating from her chest.

"Something doesn't smell right," she hissed.

Alucia left the two minis in Jasmine's care and joined Emerald and Stasya, careful to place herself between the wounded stallion and the forest. She had hoped they'd never be in a situation where she'd have to use her horn to hurt another. Not again.  

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

Juniper allowed herself to be pushed back by Otis until they were up against Jasmine's legs. She couldn't comprehend what was happening. This was her sanctuary, her special garden. Now there were blood and bad things here. Otis at her side was a small comfort, but she knew Otis wouldn't stand a chance up against whatever took that big stallion down. June looked up at Jasmine.

"Wh-What's happening?" she asked tearfully.  

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

Otis sensed the distress in his friend and snuffled her side. He felt a bit safer with all of the large ponies in between them and the potential threat, but sill felt incredibly uneasy. They should leave, but the one unicorn had already committed to helping the wounded stallion, and Juniper would never leave her garden. They were stuck.  

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

Ridley gaped at the small unicorn that had come to his aid and then switched his gaze to the bristling wolf and unicorn that was bigger than he was. Would they be enough to fend off Lux? He didn't want to find out.

"I-I'm being chased by this..." he took a moment to inhale a painful breath. "...deranged mare. This Ulun'suti named Lux Flamma" he hissed out her name. He saw the spark of recognition in both unicorns' eyes and sighed. They knew of her. Good. Then they'd run far away from here and leave him.  

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

Jasmine watched the two minis. The brown and black one, Otis, was very protective of the pale green one, Juniper. Watching the two interact reminded her, once again, of her children back home. How they would fight and bicker and play, but protect one another if it ever came down to it. When they just had her, this became even more apparent. Alder had voiced his displeasure at her leaving. He had fiercely fought against her joining up with some strange random unicorns on an adventure to who knows where. But she stood up for herself, and she did it. And now she couldn't be happier. She had been broken, and she had healed herself. For once, she was the strong one. She would offer her protection to these minis and her group. No 'Lux Flamma' was going to stop her. She turned to Juniper.

"Everything is going to be okay, just stay calm"  

[xxx Yuki Bear xxx]

Juniper looked up at the gentle-looking mare with wide eyes. She was small and dainty - would she even be able to fend off a nefarious foe?

"Are... are you sure everything is going to be okay? It doesn't seem like it's going to be okay no no no. It seems so bad. So very bad." she cried.